Advisors Capital Management LLC Acquires 105,526 Shares of Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC)

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ares Capital Co. (NASDAQ:ARCC - Free Report) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,523,651 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 105,526 shares during the period. Ares Capital makes up about 1.2% of Advisors Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Ares Capital worth $77,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ARCC. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Ares Capital by 10.6% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 11,291 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $236,000 after buying an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ares Capital by 10.9% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 73,741 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,544,000 after purchasing an additional 7,236 shares in the last quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 115,744 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $2,410,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ares Capital by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 178,153 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $3,923,000 after purchasing an additional 15,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ares Capital during the 3rd quarter worth $252,000. 27.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ares Capital Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ARCC stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $20.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,695,902 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,028,640. Ares Capital Co. has a 52 week low of $18.26 and a 52 week high of $23.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $21.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.95. The company has a market cap of $14.03 billion, a PE ratio of 8.36 and a beta of 0.77.

Ares Capital (NASDAQ:ARCC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The investment management company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by ($0.03). Ares Capital had a net margin of 50.90% and a return on equity of 11.54%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ares Capital Co. will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Capital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Ares Capital's payout ratio is 78.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James downgraded Ares Capital from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ares Capital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ares Capital from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ares Capital has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.81.

Ares Capital Company Profile

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors.